Declarations

Ethical approval and consent to participate

The CRES was approved by the Oxford C Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 07/H0606/100), sponsored by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Availability of data and material

Not applicable

Funding

The study was funded by the Anthony Long Trust (postage costs) and the Bernice Bibby Trust (research nurse time).

Competing interests

None.

Author contributions

According to the ICMJE authorship criteria:
  1. substantial contributions to conception and design of, or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data
  2. drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content
  3. final approval of the version to be published
Kristian Hutson 2, 3
Allan Clark 1, 3
Carl Philpott 1, 2, 3
Claire Hopkins 2,3
Remaining authors 3

Acknowledgements

The CRES group of otorhinolaryngologists who recruited patients to the study.
Jane Woods, Research Nurse at the James Paget University Hospital for her dedication to the study.